Honmei Choco Truffles

Here is the last recipe for my Valentine’s Day Treat series. It’s a no-bake dessert this time. Woohoo! 🙌

By the way, these are made from the leftover ganache of my Valentine’s Day Cake. I’m The Recycle Queen after all. 👸

Do you want to confess to your crush but doesn’t have the courage to do so? Express it with chocolates! 😊 You know, there’s this scene that is very common in shoujo anime and manga where girls give “honmei choco” to the boys they like. Honmei choco is chocolate given by women on Valentine’s Day to boys whom they have romantic feelings for. This event is very popular in Japan and for them, Valentine’s Day is all about chocolate. Those honmei chocolates are homemade because they believe that putting more effort into making the chocolate is like already expressing their true feelings. As the saying goes “put you heart into the chocolate”…

Although the plot is cliché, I really like watching/reading that part. It’s my dose of “doki-doki” (heartbeat) feels 😻 I wish me and my friends made those honmei choco too during our teenage days. I think it’s fun! But it’s not too late to try even at my age right? (lucky recipient: The Husband) 😅

Oh, this reminds me of my friend who’s asking me for chocolate truffle recipe. This is it Ate Valerie!

So, are you ready to make your heart skip leap a beat on Valentine’s Day? Let’s do this!!!

Good chocolate truffles really depends on good quality chocolate. The tricky part is finding the right chocolate. I’ve tried different brands and each yielded different results. Find chocolate that you really like the taste. If you found the perfect chocolate for you, stick with it 💑 and don’t let go 👫

My rule of thumb – 2:1 ratio. This is the magic number for me my friends. The ratio varies for others but most recipes use this. I’ve made ganache/truffles many times before and this works perfectly, except for white chocolates (3:1 ratio, different story I’ll tell next time).

This ratio means use 2 parts of chocolate for every 1 part of heavy cream. So if you have 16 ounces of chocolate, you need 8 ounces of heavy cream. If you’ll use 250 grams of chocolate, you’ll need 125 grams of heavy cream. Okay? Okay! 🙆

There are 4 ways on how l melt the chocolate:

1. Microwave Oven – this is the fastest way. I use this if I’m lazy to do method #2 and #3. Though, I do not recommended this when melting large amount of chocolate because some chocolates burn quickly (especially chocolate chips). For microwave method: Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Set the microwave to lowest power setting (just to be safe). Microwave for 1 min (depending on the amount of chocolate), stirring every 15 or 20 seconds until smooth.
2. Double boiler – this is the slowest method but the safest way to melt your chocolate without burning it. If you need to melt large amount, this is the best way to go. For double boiler method: Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl. Boil water in a saucepan or medium pot. Once boiling, turn heat to medium-low then place the heat-proof bowl on top of the pot. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the boiling/simmering water. Stir chocolate and heavy cream until smooth.
3. Boiled water – I recommend this method if melting small amount of chocolate. For boiled water method: Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl. Boil water in a pan, enough to cover quarter or half the height of the bowl . Once boiling, remove pan from stove then place it on the kitchen counter. Submerge the heat-proof bowl in the hot water. Prevent hot water from getting inside of the bowl. Stir chocolate and heavy cream until smooth.
4. Boiling the cream – this method is fine for any amount of chocolate. Though my only problem here is the cream cools down fast just before the chocolate melts. So I suggest to soften the chocolate at room temperature before proceeding. For boiling the cream method: Heat the cream in a saucepan (or bring to a rolling boil, no need to fully boil). Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Stir until smooth.

Since I’ll be working with small amount of chocolate for this recipe and I’d like this to be a one-bowl step, I’ll go with method #3:

Let the melted chocolate cool completely before chilling. Refrigerate the ganache until stiff enough to roll into balls.

Tip: the warmth of our hands will make the truffles melt and sticky as we roll them into balls. What I always do is spoon them first into a large baking sheet or large serving plate, at least 1-inch apart. Freeze for 10 to 15 minutes then start to roll each spooned/mound of frozen ganache. Freeze the spooned ganache every time they get sticky. Freezing makes them easier to work with.

Garnish with sprinkles, crushed graham crackers, cocoa powder, shredded coconut or chopped nuts for added crunch. I love these truffles with nuts especially pistachios 😍

That’s all! I hope you’ll love these honmei chocolate truffles as much as we do.

Best of luck to you on Valentine’s Day 😉

🚗 Shortcut to Pinterest here 📌

5 from 1 reviews

Honmei Choco Truffles

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours

 

Rich and creamy dark chocolate truffles.

Author: When Hungry | Sheryl

Yields: 28

Ingredients

• 12 ounces good quality dark or bittersweet chocolate
• 6 ounces heavy cream
• Crushed graham crackers, sprinkles, cocoa powder, shredded coconut or chopped nuts (I used pistachios)

Instructions

1. Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl.
2. Boil water in a pan. Water should be enough to cover quarter or half the height of the bowl. Once boiling, remove pan from stove then place on the kitchen counter.
3. Submerge the heat-proof bowl on the hot water. Prevent hot water from getting inside of the bowl. Stir chocolate and heavy cream until smooth.
4. Let the ganache cool completely before chilling. Refrigerate until hard enough to roll into balls.
5. Using a sturdy measuring spoon, take 1 tablespoon of chilled ganache then roll into a ball. See notes below for a better way to do this.
6. Roll the truffles in crushed graham crackers, sprinkles, cocoa powder or chopped nuts.
7. Always keep the chocolate truffles in a covered container in refrigerator. Consume within a week.

Notes

Choose from the 4 melting methods I mentioned above. Since I used small amount of chocolate for this recipe, I chose method #3.

The warmth of our hands will make the truffles melt and sticky as we roll them into balls. What I always do is spoon them first into a large baking sheet or large plate, at least 1-inch apart. Freeze for 10 to 15 minutes then start to roll each spooned/mound of frozen ganache. Freeze the spooned ganache each time they get sticky. Freezing makes them easier to work with.

Total time includes preparation and cooling time.

3.5.3226

🤓 

 I also used this recipe to frost my vanilla cake:

Valentine’s Day Cake For Two